The strategic use of stories is growing rapidly in today’s business world as entrepreneurs and organizations recognize the power of story to engage others. Story has always been a key part of business communication, but the recent spread of “business storytelling” has also perpetuated some myths. I’d love to drop the term “storytelling” in favor of something like “storysharing” or “storylearning.” Here are seven reasons why:

Love this article because if you've ever had to justify storytelling as a core business activity, you've run up against these myths. And this article gives you ways to respond to each myth. Yeah!

Here are the best articles from across the web that I can find on leadership storytelling.

And visit my website for more information about my coaching and workshops on business storytelling for business leaders at www.juststoryit.com

Dr. Karen Dietz's insight:

Editorial Statement For This Collection:

Thank you for visiting this curation of articles on leadership storytelling. I've chosen them because they actually make a contribution to our knowledge and wisdom about stories, show us how to work with stories in leadership, org culture, key business functions, and the like.

I weed out all the junk. And besides, who needs another post in why storytelling is important?? Where's the beef?? We want the meat!

I'm the author of the bestselling book Business Storytelling For Dummies (with Lori Silverman) and an original in the field of business storytelling. Based on my 20+ years of biz story experience, (plus a PhD in Folklore) I've written reviews of each article to share what I like best, what you can get from reading the article, or what may be missing in the article.

How To Find A Topic:Click on the Filter icon above (look for the 'funnel' shape), and view the tags. Select one that interests you, or type in a keyword in the search box. All the articles with that tag or keyword will appear.

I may occasionally review an article that I think is problematic as a way to educate us all, although most I will simply pass over. If you wonder if I've seen an article that is not included here, send me a message at linkedin.com/in/karendietz and I'll respond.

I trust you find many great insights and tips here. Many thanks for visiting and enjoy the articles!

Don't forget to connect with me on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn, too. See you around the leadership and storytelling 'hood.

"Good afternoon. Thank you for coming to my presentation. Today I would like to talk about ..... " How boring is the above speech opener? ...And how would you feel if you were sitting in the audience? The only thing that could make this speech more boring, more dis-engaging, would be to couple it with some text-heavy

Dr. Karen Dietz's insight:

Opening and closing a story or a storied presentation is hard. It takes work and preparation. Avoid the standard buzz-kill openings. Use these instead! They are great and will create an impact from the very beginning. You capture audience's attention immediately and your memorability skyrockets.

What I love about this post is that VCs tell us directly what measures startups typically include that are meaningless, and what to use instead.

I've curated several top articles, and written my own post, on how startups tell their story when pitching to venture capitalists (VCs) for funding. These upgraded measures shared here are spot on, and a significant improvement.

I'm an avid watcher of Shark Tank. These metrics are the ones I see asked for all the time from the Sharks.

But these metrics are not just for startups and VCs -- they actually apply to many situations where you are trying to get buy-in for your project.

So take note and replace meaningless measures with more significant ones.

It's time to delete questions like 'what do you do?' and 'where do you live?' from your vocabulary forever.

Dr. Karen Dietz's insight:

What a great article sharing research that correlates having meaningful conversations with personal happiness!

Meaningful conversations very often happen when stories are being shared. So there are questions at the end of the article to get a deeper conversation going.

My take on these questions though is that they MIGHT generate a story, but it's not a guarantee. So you'll have to ask subsequent questions to actually get a story.

The easier step to take is to take these questions and actually turn them into story prompts. Take question #4: "What absolutely excites you right now?" A typical answer is "My project at work with our vendors." Now you've got to ask more questions. That takes work.

So make it lots easier. Turn it into a story prompt by asking instead, "Tell me about something that absolutely excites you right now..." A likely answer would be, "Oh, my project at work -- which is all about linking our vendors together -- is so exciting. I'm really stoked about it because..."

We need to develop new processes of collective storytelling across sectors to navigate turbulent times and foster systems change.

Dr. Karen Dietz's insight:

OMG, what a great article by writer Ella Saltmarshe on the power of storytelling for change.

She makes 3 frames for business stories: stories as light, stories as glue, and stories as web. When you frame stories like this, it becomes a lot easier to leverage them for any kind of change effort.

Saltmarshe goes into detail with the 3 frames so readers come away with a more in-depth understanding of how the 3 work. Within the 3 frames are additional subsets.

The article is published in the Stanford Social Innovation Review, so you know the post has got substance. This is a powerful post you won't want to miss.

OMG, what a great article by writer Ella Saltmarshe on the power of storytelling for change.

She makes 3 frames for business stories: stories as light, stories as glue, and stories as web. When you frame stories like this, it becomes a lot easier to leverage them for any kind of change effort.

Saltmarshe goes into detail with the 3 frames so readers come away with a more in-depth understanding of how the 3 work. Within the 3 frames are additional subsets.

The article is published in the Stanford Social Innovation Review, so you know the post has got substance. This is a powerful post you won't want to miss.

People have been using stories as a way to transfer knowledge. The practice had such a profound effect on us that, even today, we find it hard to turn away from story-driven content. Here are 5 tips for using storytelling in content marketing

What great reminders that make a direct link between storytelling principles and generating content for marketing.

Reminders like: know your audience, learn the basics of storytelling, and control the pacing. Of course, basic storytelling skills will only get you so far, so keep upgrading and honing your skills into advanced storytelling.

Creating content just for the sake of creating content, or simply sharing content created by others for the same purpose, will not see a high level of success in today's content marketing game. To be really successful in content marketing, you now need to be a good storyteller. There is an art to telling a great story in a business context, and this article provides five good tips, on how to do it right.

When we learned to write in grade school, we were told to make sure our story has a beginning, middle, and end. The three-act structure. The technique still holds true today—from content marketing, to blogging to novels.

***This review was written by Penelope Silvers for her curated content on "Writing Rightly"***

Website design has really evolved over the past few years to include interactive experiences that provide depth and movement. Parallax scrolling is a technique that involves objects and layers with…

Dr. Karen Dietz's insight:

Want to know how to do great storytelling on your website? Well, using a parallax layout is one way and here's a post that lists the most effective 11 examples.

I'm periodically asked about telling stories on websites, so these examples should spark some ideas -- whether you use parallax or not.

While it's true that most of these examples are educational and not necessarily focused on business, that doesn't mean you can't make the translation. Think about one of your signature stories -- maybe your brand story about how your business got started and why, and then how that translated into a unique offering in the marketplace.

Your ability to be an incredible leader depends on your ability to be inspiring. This is also the biggest skill leaders say they lack and want to build. So how do you do that? The biggest mistake leaders make is thinking being inspiring is about telling an inspiring story. Yes and no. Let's dig int

Dr. Karen Dietz's insight:

These are eye-popping stats based on solid research about the sorry state of leadership these days. 70% of leaders think they are inspiring. 82% of employees think NOT.

OK, that means you, dear leader. The biggest mistake leaders make is that they think sharing an inspiring story does the trick. Hardly.

So my recent blog post shares about what to do to close this disastrous gap. I discuss 5 ways to become more inspiring. Which do you need to focus on?

Sam Cawthorn is The Young Australian of the Year, The Edupreneur of the Year, Australia Day ambassador, 7 times international bestseller and also a professional speaker that has spoken in 36 counties.

Dr. Karen Dietz's insight:

OK -- I like most of this interview with Sam Cawthorn. Except for his silly distinction between storytelling and storyshowing. It's a load of hooey.

Anybody who knows authentic storytelling knows that "story showing" automatically happens -- because when you are reliving your experience, you are conveying visuals automatically. Your audience can then see and experience what you did.

When that is NOT happening, you are sharing a simple series of events: I went to the store, I bought some break, I made a sandwich. That's not storytelling.

That being said, I do like the rest of what Cawthorn shares. He talks about leaders preaching instead of inspiring. Right on.

He also makes a fab point that great storytelling is not about the content, it's about the delivery! Yet most people focus mostly on the content and forget the delivery. The result? Mediocre storytelling or an actual epic fail.

Read more and please -- just don't get hooked into his dumb "we've been told to do it wrong!" storyshowing stuff.

OK, this is a deep post -- but well worth it if you are into storytelling creating successful change. As a leader, share it with your organizational development folks, but also understand it yourself so you can be more effective.

In fact, you'll probably want to bookmark this entire site. There are tools to explore and more insights to read on the link between storytelling and change.

One of the reasons I like this post is because it also talks about language. The language we use in our stories is important. Using generative language is a must. Generative language creates forward movement. Get more insights on this by reading the post.

I also like the notion shared here of mapping stories collaboratively in your network. It's an incredibly valuable tool because then you know because the stories act as bridges to other groups, divisions, and worlds where you need to go and have impact.

The site also shares a simple network mapping tool. Yay!

My only quibble is that the article focuses on stories as sense-making tools when instead they are meaning-making vehicles. Sense making is "Oh I get it." Meaning making is, "Oh, now I know how this is valuable, or now I know what to do." That's a huge difference, and meaning making is a way more desirable outcome.

Then check out this list. It's based on what employees themselves say. We don't know exactly what they were asked, so how do you know if you measure up?

First things first: here's a definition of corporate culture:

It's the pervasive values, beliefs and attitudes that characterize a company.

What generates a corporate culture that's a great place to work? These are your essential ingredients:

Vision -- that is engaging and compelling

Values -- that are lived

Processes -- that back up the values

People -- that embrace those values

Narratives -- compelling ones that shape the culture

Place -- the environment you work in shapes the culture

Narratives play the biggest role, because it's through your stories that you convey your vision and how you are living it, your values and how you are living those, the amazing people you work with and their contributions, and how the environment you've created allows people to do extraordinary work.

The health of a culture is simply a reflection of the quality of the narratives told. That includes types of stories, quality of stories, who is telling stories, when and where stories are told, and the organization's capacity for story listening.

A company's vision, values, processes and place are the foreground. A company's narratives are the background that informs all the rest.

If you want to strengthen your culture, focus on narratives first. They are both your diagnostic for assessing your culture, and your remedy for fixing it.

Warby Parker is known for being a wonderful place to work. Here, Co-founder Dave Gilboa breaks down exactly how they've constructed this culture.

Dr. Karen Dietz's insight:

One of the challenges in business storytelling is translating it into everyday work. Warby Parker has figured out how to apply storytelling to 5 phases in its employee life-cycle, which is one area to apply business storytelling.

The article may not mention storytelling directly in each phase, but in the discussion, it will become obvious to you that storytelling plays a part -- either in sharing stories or sparking story creation.

Now...given these examples, what ideas get sparked for story applications in your company?

“Emerging findings in neuroscience research suggest why inspiring and supportive relationships are important — they help activate openness to new ideas and a more social orientation to others.”

Dr. Karen Dietz's insight:

“Emerging findings in neuroscience research suggest why inspiring and supportive relationships are important — they help activate openness to new ideas and a more social orientation to others,” says the author of this article on the neuroscience of leadership.

What's the connection to storytelling? Storytelling is how you build these relationships and activate openness to new ideas, etc. In fact, storytelling is the #1 method for realizing all 3 points listed below.

When you read this article, you will learn about how findings in neuroscience are revolutionizing leadership in areas like,

Building resonant relationships

Impacts of emotional contagion and empathy

Stimulating socialness and engagement through the Positive Emotional Attractor (PEA)

Insights such as these move us away from the much-touted “results orientation” leadership to a “relationship orientation” leadership.

Bottom line: research shows that for change to occur (personal or organizational) leaders need to: 1. arouse the PEA first; and 2. arouse the PEA sufficiently such that it is about three to six times more frequent in the discussions than the Negative Emotional Attractors. Good to know.

Learn about all of these -- what they mean and their implications for successful leadership -- in this review of scholarly articles. Love the citations :)

Corey PhilipPresident and founder of a home service / specialty trade contracting company (think patio’s and deck) with a focus on customer experience. Runner. Instructor of a Facebook marketing course, exclusively for home service businesses. Learn more about it here.

Dr. Karen Dietz's insight:

This blog post is chock full of great advice from 23 sales experts. I and 2 other esteemed business storytelling colleagues are featured.

If you want more sales, if you want story tips to increase sales, then check out this piece. Story on!

Visual marketing expert Shlomi Ron discusses how brands can better leverage the power of visual storytelling to drive impact.

Dr. Karen Dietz's insight:

"At the very basic level, we see that businesses don’t have a concrete business story to tell," says Shlomi Ron in this article on Visual Storytelling. And that's the crux of the matter.

Ron goes on to share a lot about how to construct visual stories and the mistakes business make in their visual storytelling. And there's great news about the primacy of print and the marrying of visual with print media.

That being said, it's scary how good we are getting at knowing how to sway people. As always, there are upsides and downsides, and it behooves us all to be more aware of what we do, and what is being done to us.

Good golly -- what a comprehensive article about how to effectively influence and persuade! And all the points are right on.

I really like the distinction between System 1 and System 2 thinking based on neuroscience. To influence, use System 1, which is storytelling.

But wait -- there's more! The author does a deep dive into all facets of persuasion/influence, including elements like Anchoring, Representation, Coherence, and Framing. Your business stories -- when positioned well -- will do all of these for you. That's the good news. It's not as complicated as you think.

According to Odean, success depends on whether you are able to persuade people to join you in your cause to create new and revolutionary things. I feel that this is true. Someone might have an extremely innovative idea, but no words to express himself. People would most likely scratch their heads in confusion by what this person says. However, another person may have a dumb idea, but package the idea so nicely that others think the idea is amazing. Although persuasion is such an important skill, schools do not educate students on how to be persuasive concisely. Instead, schools teach students to use windy evidences to strengthen their point. Using lengthy evidences will just confuse others and make them question you more. I feel that schools should also give some insights on how to have better speaking skills in order to persuade people easily. Such knowledge proves to be more useful for students when they grow up.

Good golly -- what a comprehensive article about how to effectively influence and persuade! And all the points are right on.

I really like the distinction between System 1 and System 2 thinking based on neuroscience. To influence, use System 1, which is storytelling.

But wait -- there's more! The author does a deep dive into all facets of persuasion/influence, including elements like Anchoring, Representation, Coherence, and Framing. Your business stories -- when positioned well -- will do all of these for you. That's the good news. It's not as complicated as you think.

Previously a proprietary methodology to now an industry resource, our Periodic Table of Business Storytelling is now available in the public domain. The microsite took home the In2 SABRE Award for Best PR Agency Blog, Editorial, Communications Platform.

Dr. Karen Dietz's insight:

Now, how cool is this -- a periodic table just for business storytelling! Check it out. It's very helpful to think through the story you want/need to tell.

I've known Lou Hoffman at the Hoffman Agency for a while, and congrats on the award! I'm very pleased the periodic table is now available for all of us. Thank you for your contributions to business storytelling Lou.

Cooperation—no other animal does it quite like us. Developmental psychologist Michael Tomasello explains why if chimps had a self-help bestseller, it would be titled, How to Outwit Rivals and Get More Fruit.

Our abilities to cooperate put us ahead of every other species. Being able to share stories that foster cooperation (instead of division like we are so fond of today in politics) is one of the essential ingredients in building cooperation. Cooperation balances our competitive drive, which is critical for tech cultures to provide ongoing value.

This is a great post that will brighten your day. The research is fascinating. The conclusions compelling.

The last line in the article sums it all up: "In the end, what stands out more is our exceptional capacity for generosity and mutual trust, those moments in which we act like no species that has ever come before us."

Our abilities to cooperate put us ahead of every other species. Being able to share stories that foster cooperation (instead of division like we are so fond of today in politics) is one of the essential ingredients in building cooperation. Cooperation balances our competitive drive, which is critical for tech cultures to provide ongoing value.

This is a great post that will brighten your day. The research is fascinating. The conclusions compelling.

The last line in the article sums it all up: "In the end, what stands out more is our exceptional capacity for generosity and mutual trust, those moments in which we act like no species that has ever come before us."

What a powerful piece from Harvard Business Review (HBR) with some astounding stats about the sorry state of leadership and management in organizations.

It's eye-opening

Businesses are confronted with enormous pressures these days to transform themselves digitally, find new business models, sources of revenue, and be innovative. It's going to be doubly hard to do so if your organization is experiencing any of what the HBR post is talking about.

But I also like the 4 ways the author discusses as ways to remedy the situation. Narrative skills increase #s 1, 3, and 4. Read it and then get your game on.

One thing that seems to be devoid of the halls of Business Management Academe is little focus on the Golden Rule. There truly is no entitlement mindset in management. A successful manager learns early on the input from their employees and active listening and applying an action to suggestions is an easier journey to success. The Golden Rule applies so perfectly.

In this post, Jamie Carter writes for TechRadar about the 5 different ways AI is doing storytelling.

There's everything from apps helping you to write better based on AI's natural language processing, to creating emotional arcs that now accurately predict emotional engagement. Read more in Carter's article.

It's happening now -- and fast. Movie makers and news organizations are using AI today. Marketing professionals are catching up fast, if not already there.

So if machines are taking over both functional (story structures) and emotional areas of storytelling, where does that leave humans?

AI can be a great assist in storytelling. But people will still have to stand and deliver. Oh, wait...is that a robot up on The Moth stage??!!

Why aren't more organizations using brand storytelling to engage customers? New research from Skyword might hold the answer.

Dr. Karen Dietz's insight:

What a sorry state of affairs for leaders and organizations. The original title of this post is targeted to content marketers and CMOs. But when you read the post, you see it's really an indictment on storytelling and leadership for the entire organization, not just marketing!

And frankly, it follows my experience over the last 20 years. Tons of companies and leaders tout their storytelling. But it looks -- according to this article -- on all talk and little action. And they've got the research to prove it.

Why is storytelling not being adopted by organizations -- even though it is the one skill that can remedy at least 5 critical areas in business? As the research says, it's because:

It's not part of the culture or mindset

Storytelling is a new skill set

It's not measured or documented

That is so accurate!

Want results in sales, employee engagement, an inspiring vision that people believe in, a Teflon culture, and incredible leadership? Then up your storytelling game and quit fooling around.

What a sorry state of affairs for leaders and organizations. The original title of this post is targeted to content marketers and CMOs. But when you read the post, you see it's really an indictment on storytelling and leadership for the entire organization, not just marketing!

And frankly, it follows my experience over the last 20 years. Tons of companies and leaders tout their storytelling. But it looks -- according to this article -- on all talk and little action. And they've got the research to prove it.

Why is storytelling not being adopted by organizations -- even though it is the one skill that can remedy at least 5 critical areas in business? As the research says, it's because:

It's not part of the culture or mindset

Storytelling is a new skill set

It's not measured or documented

That is so accurate!

Want results in technology leadership, employee engagement, an inspiring vision that people believe in, a Teflon culture, and incredible leadership? Then up your storytelling game and quit fooling around.

There is one massive issue with presentation trainings, one we can't see unless we step out of our usual presentation training

Dr. Karen Dietz's insight:

Thank you to Edoardo for writing this post!

The author's points are spot on. His main points are that presentations are about the audience -- not you. Yet the bulk of presentation trainings are designed to be ALL about you -- how you stand, look, speak, gesture, the slides you show, the font you use.

But the truth is that successful presentations are totally focused on the audience -- who they are, what they care about, the dialogue you have with them, and the empathy created. Not you.

As the author points out, the only person you can make look good is the person in the audience. Even if it's an audience of hundreds.

Edoardo doesn't mention the critical need for storytelling in your presentations, so you know I'm going to add that in. For every major point in your talk, make sure you make it with a story.

Go read the article for stellar insights and what to do. Then craft your next presentation taking these steps and with this shift in attitude. You will notice a huge difference.

A new study says people who ask more questions, particularly follow-up questions, are liked better by their conversation partners.

Dr. Karen Dietz's insight:

What a great short post or 3.5 minute audio file to listen to!

It shares some of the latest research out of Harvard about the value of asking questions in conversation. In other words, if you are curious about someone and want to connect, ask them questions. It leads to more meaningful follow up conversations.

Great to know for leaders expanding executive presence, building trust, deepening relationships, being more influential, and acquiring better information before making a decision.

One sided conversations are discussed (avoid those!), and what happened when people responded to the question, "Will asking questions make you more likeable?"The answer is surprising.

In my communication and influence work, I call this mastering the Art Of The Question. All questions are not created equal. Information questions are OK, but are best used for warming up the conversation. Abandon them quickly to ask deeper, more meaningful reflective questions like (these are just a few):

What did that experience mean to you?

What did you like about that experience?

What did you learn from that?

In workshops I demonstrate the power of these reflective questions over information questions for connection and better decision making. Works like a charm every time.

Try asking questions next time you are in a conversation or meet someone new. You'll be glad you did.

It shares some of the latest research out of Harvard about the value of asking questions in conversation. In other words, if you are curious about someone and want to connect, ask them questions. It leads to more meaningful follow up conversations.

Great to know for leaders expanding executive presence, building trust, deepening relationships, being more influential, and acquiring better information before making a decision.

One sided conversations are discussed (avoid those!), and what happened when people responded to the question, "Will asking questions make you more likeable?"The answer is surprising.

In my communication and influence work, I call this mastering the Art Of The Question. All questions are not created equal. Information questions are OK, but are best used for warming up the conversation. Abandon them quickly to ask deeper, more meaningful reflective questions like (these are just a few):

What did that experience mean to you?

What did you like about that experience?

What did you learn from that?

In workshops I demonstrate the power of these reflective questions over information questions for connection and better decision making. Works like a charm every time.

Try asking questions next time you are in a conversation or meet someone new. You'll be glad you did.

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